viernes, 2 de agosto de 2013

Otto Reich, a
former high officer of the U.S. government and owner of a consulting firm
called Otto Reich and Associates, ORA, has sued Derwick Associates, a
contractor to the Venezuelan government for damages against his company. The
legal action sheds considerable light on the nature of the perverted confabulation
of government officers and well-to-do young members of Venezuelan high society
to sack Venezuelan resources at the expense of the people. It shows how the Venezuelan
problem is not only one of extreme corruption among the “socialist” and “revolutionary”
members of government but also among members of traditional or very
rich but immoral families. This explains
why the Venezuelan corrupt government of Hugo Chavez/Nicolas Maduro is still in
power. The people who would be the natural opponents of their perversion are
their allies in the sacking of the nation!

We have
extracted, for the information of the readers, the essential contents of the
suit in order to understand how Reich explains how this perverted marriage has
taken place. We don’t venture an opinion on the legal merits of the action nor I comment on Reisch's assertions.

However, I believe that the arguments included in the action coincide with the
investigations of Cesar Batiz for Caracas daily newspaper “Ultimas Noticias” and of blogger Alek Boyd in http://alekboyd.blogspot.com/2013/07/infodio.html
and should have been the object of investigation, long ago, by the Venezuelan authorities.
But, what authorities, if they are all in the same boat of corruption?

1.The defendants

Defendants are U.S. residents who have
amassed enormous fortunes through a

llicit scheme
to secure energy-industry contracts in Venezuela for their U.S.-based
companies,

admit that
"[b]between 2009 and 2010, Derwick [Associates] submitted more than 25
bids on

EPC projects and
received EPC contracts on twelve of those projects." The truth, of course,
is far more complicated (and much less flattering to Defendants). As discussed
in more detail below, from 2009 to 2010, Derwick Associates obtained at least a
dozen energy-sector contracts valued at approximately $1 billion from agencies of
the Venezuelan government, secured via illegal bribes, kickbacks and other
unlawful activities, all in violation of United States law.

In mid-20l0,
PDVSA awarded contracts to Derwick Associates for the construction of four
power plants in Venezuela. The plants in question were to be located in the
cities of Las Morochas, Barinas, EI Furrial, and El Morichal. These contracts were not the subject of a
public bidding process…Upon securing

the inflated
contracts, Derwick Associates would subcontract out the work to various
U.S.-based

companies,
including Missouri-based ProEnergy Services, LLC, who would do substantially
all

of the actual
construction. Derwick Associates, having done almost nothing beyond merely

procuring the
contracts, would keep a substantial percentage of the contract proceeds for
itself….in November,
2012, while in the United States, D'Agostino told a friend

that "of course"
Derwick Associates paid kickbacks to secure its energy contracts; he noted that

in Venezuela, "you always
have to pay" what D'Agostino called "consulting fees," in order
to

secure the contracts. Of note,
the U.S. Department of Justice has declared that payments to

foreign officials to influence
their decisions violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act even if

they are accounted for as
"consulting fees." Although the exact details of the PDVSA kickback
scheme (including the amountof
the kickback and the dates it was offered and paid) remain shrouded in secrecy
given itsillegality, it
is believed that through an individual named Francisco Convit-Guruceaga
("ConvitGuruceaga")(who is Defendant Betancourt's first cousin, and is
also a part owner of Derwick

in 2009 with its
solicitation of construction contracts….Upon information and belief, Defendants
Betancourt, Trebbau, and D' Agostino set out to offer millions of dollars in
kickbacks to CORPOELEC officials in exchange for awarding the contracts to
Derwick Associates. Upon securing the inflated contracts, Derwick Associates
would then subcontract out the work to another U.S. company, Missouri-based ProEnergy
Services, LLC, which would do substantially all of the actual work…. Derwick Associates,
having done almost nothing, would keep a substantial percentage of the contract

proceeds for
itself… Defendants would later brag to
their friends and acquaintances in the United

States that
Derwick Associates secured these contracts by giving kickbacks to the right
people.

8.The third corrupt government agency that contracted
with Derwick

The Corporacion
Venezolana de Guayana, CVG is a state-owned company that controls energy
production in the Guayana region in southeast Venezuela. In late 2009, CVG awarded two contracts to
Derwick Associates for the construction of energy plants in Puerto Ordaz,
Venezuela named Sidor Planta A and Sidor PlantaB. The contracts were not the
subject of a public bidding process.. Upon information and belief, Defendants
Betancourt, Trebbau, and D'Agostino

set out to offer
millions of dollars in kickbacks to CVG officials in exchange for awarding the

Minister of
Basic Industries and Mining…. Upon information and belief, Defendants Betancourt,
Trebbau, and D'Agostino together authorized Convit-Guruceaga to offer Sanz a
substantial payment in order to obtain the contracts. Convit-Guruceaga did so.
Betancourt later personally negotiated with Sanz over the terms of the payment.
Upon information and belief, Sanz accepted…Upon information and belief, the
monies that Derwick Associates received from the contracts were wired to
accounts at J.P. Morgan and Davos Financial Group in New York, and were used,
in tum, to pay millions of dollars in kickbacks to Sanz

9.Derwick in the eye of the U.S. authorities

The incredible
manner in which Derwick Associates secured more than a billion

dollars in complex energy
construction contracts in such a short time has drawn scrutiny from

the United
States government and numerous media sources.

10.The defamation
suit against Banco Venezolano de Credito collapsed.

[In this trial]
through discovery and trial, each of Betancourt, Trebbau and D'Agostino

(through Derwick
Associates) would have had the opportunity to pursue a legal process that,

ostensibly,
could have cleared their sullied reputations. Rather than pursue the discovery

process and
prove up their claims, each of Betancourt, Trebbau and D'Agostino opted to
settle

he case.
Indeed, Defendants agreed to dismiss their lawsuit in April 2013 - mere months after
it

was commenced -
and before any material discovery could take place. It has been reported that Betancourt,
Trebbau, and Derwick Associates agreed to settle their $300 million defamation
suit without having received payment of even a single dollar from Banco
Venezuela or anyone else.